Something in Common

John Templeton (www.templeton.org)Warren Buffett, born in 1930 and now 87 years old, is still working. In fact, he’s one of many long-lived successful investors. Experts believe optimism is the reason why.

Walter Schloss, who called Buffett a “superinvestor”, retired at 87 after an active life. Schloss lived to 95, and his son described his secret thus: “Many fund managers worry about quarterly performance, but my father never did. He got a good night’s sleep every night.”

Charlie Munger, vice-president of Berkshire Hathaway and a lifelong partner of Buffett’s, is similar. Even at 94, Munger speaks in lectures and general meetings and actively carries on with his work. He said, “Bitcoin is a noxious poison” at this year’s general meeting while opposing investment in virtual currency.

Legendary investor and billion-dollar contributor John Templeton lived to be 95. The British Telegraph said of him, “Sir John Templeton’s greatest weapon as an investor was his optimism.”

An analyst explained, “Successful investors live long lives because they are optimists and value investors,” and added, “Value investors believe that while humanity and businesses may suffer crises, they are always developing. It’s like optimism.”

Famous MBAs teach realism and minimization of risk, but wealth and good fortune ultimately go to the optimists.